Posted on 01/03/2013 12:58:31 PM PST by NYer
Many Catholics seldom think past their own parish when the consider the Church. And yet the Catholic World is huge and quite vibrant:
There is probably never a moment during the day in which Mass is not being celebrated somewhere on this planet, where the Liturgy of the Hours is not being celebrated. At every moment, Catholic school bells ringing, the poor and sick attended to by the Church, confessions being heard, counsel being given.
I am mindful of the words of an old hymn: The sun that bids us rest is waking, our brethren ‘neath the western sky.
Scripture also comes to mind
Yes, the Lord has done a glorious thing. It is so common to hear the failings of the Church and of her apparent irrelevancy to the modern Western World. And she remains, by God’s grace, strong, vital and worldwide. What a marvelous thing the Lord has done.
And if perhaps the worldwide picture overwhelms, consider even the life in one diocese in this country. My cousin John Clem alerted me to the video below, from the Archdiocese of St. Louis. It pictures the life of the Church in just one Archdiocese. As the clock in the video ticks by there is not a moment where the Church is not teeming with life, by God’s grace. The video beings in the early hours of the night where religious are praying the hours and shelters and crisis centers are up and running. As the morning dawns Masses are celebrated, parishes and school come to life, hospitals and clinics hum with activity. And as evening comes, more prayer, parish meetings and and the settling in of people in shelters. And in the late hours of the night an Archbishop prays for his people. One day in an Archdiocese.
Here in the Archdiocese of Washington, we did something similar in written form, a document called Catholic Impact. In its forty pages a similar story is told of a local Church, and Archdiocese, that teems with life.
There are surely struggles in the Church about which we must be sober today. But too easily we focus on the negative, on what is wrong, and we look right past a lot of what is right, what is good, life giving, healing, vivid and true. Let this video and book remind us of that.
The Lord continues to do a marvelous work in his mystical Body, the Church.
Ping!
the Bible says Jesus Christ went to be by His Fathers side, so who is the spirit that roams the earth in the Bible?
Christ is among us....in your soul and in mine. He is in disguise.
Have you ever read the story of St. Martin of Tours? He was a soldier and came upon a beggar who was shivering in the cold. He cut his cloak in half and gave it to the beggar. That night, Christ appeared to him wearing half of his cloak.
Another story is of St. Edward who was king of England. He came upon a beggar and had no money so he is depicted as giving his ring to the beggar. Later the ring was returned to him.....some say by St. John, some say by Christ himself.
God is omnipotent, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God can be anywhere at anytime in any of those three forms.
**Many Catholics seldom think past their own parish when the consider the Church. And yet the Catholic World is huge and quite vibrant:
1.2 Billion Catholics in the World.
412,236 Priests
721,935 Religious Sisters
221,055 Parishes
92,847 Catholic Elementary Schools with 31 million students.
43,591 Catholic Secondary Schools with 17 Million Students [*]
117,000 health care facilities, including hospitals, clinics, orphanages, as well as 18,000 pharmacies and 512 centers for the care of those with leprosy, all comprising 26% of the total of the worlds health care facilities. [*]
There is probably never a moment during the day in which Mass is not being celebrated somewhere on this planet, where the Liturgy of the Hours is not being celebrated. At every moment, Catholic school bells ringing, the poor and sick attended to by the Church, confessions being heard, counsel being given.**
Just think if all these would close down since the HHS mandate wants to make them provide abortion facilitation.
Thanks for posting this. Christ is alive, present TODAY. It is fully and completely possible to meet Him TODAY.
I made these statements to derision a few weeks ago, which amazed me. I thought if there was anything we Christians could all agree, it would be the claim that He is alive today. But I guess not.
This makes me wonder what our non-Catholic Christian friends mean when they claim to have a “personal relationship with Jesus”. Doesn’t sound too “personal” to me if one hasn’t actually MET Him personally.
I cant imagine a believer would say Christ isnt alive today. My first thought was that you may have misunderstood a comment. I too would think that would be one thing we all could agree on as He most assuredly is.
Amen, beautifully stated Salvation!
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.
37 Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?
40 The King will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
41 Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.
44 They also will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?
45 He will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.
46 Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Heavenly Father, we ask you to open our eyes to see what these words mean for all of us. So we can respond they way you want to us to respond. We ask in thy Holy Name of Jesus.
Eternal Father, we offer Thee the merits of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Thy Beloved Son and my Divine Redeemer, for all my relations, friends and enemies, for the poor, the sick, and those in tribulation, and for all those for whom Thou willest I should pray, or knowest that I ought to pray.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Blessed and praised forevermore be Jesus Who hath saved us by His Precious Blood!
Alright, maybe I did misunderstand.
We must agree on that most fundamental point or else there is nothing really to discuss on these threads.
Thank you for your reply.
I agree. I couldnt imagine who on these threads would have said that without getting excoriated. On that issue we can stand shoulder to shoulder for sure.
“For the Word of God is LIVING and ACTIVE. Sharper than any double-edged sword, It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Heb 4:12
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